Does classical mechanics research continue and should I review it as a physics major?

[Wishingwell]

^ topic

It just seems Classical Mechanics seems to be the most "complete" sub-field of Physics but I was just wondering.

Also, I have just finished taking my Classical Mechanics I class at my university (and I want to give a thank you to the forum again for helping me) and to be honest I've forgotten a lot of what I learned in the class. Do you think it would be wise to try and review as much of the material as possible? Note I'm a physics major and I just wanted to see if I'll be extensively be using classical mechanics in future physics classes.

 

[maverick280857]

Do you think it would be wise to try and review as much of the material as possible?

Yes

Note I'm a physics major and I just wanted to see if I'll be extensively be using classical mechanics in future physics classes.

At the very least you will need the Hamiltonian and Lagrangian formalisms, Hamilton-Jacobi theory, the variational principle and Euler-Lagrange equations, Euler angles and angular momentum representation.

 

[Andy Resnick]

^ topic
<snip>

Yes.
Off the top of my head: in fluid flow (turbulence, wetting, microfluidic devices), solid body mechanics (shocks, fractures), constitutive relations, thermodynamics... lots of different topics.

 

[Astronuc]

Yes.
Off the top of my head: in fluid flow (turbulence, wetting, microfluidic devices), solid body mechanics (shocks, fractures), constitutive relations, thermodynamics... lots of different topics.

Most definitely. Essentially all engineering is applied classical physics.

Aeronautics and transportation, structural mechanics, chemical engineering, . . . all use computational physics based on 'classical physics'. There's a lot of work in multiphysics these days.

 

[MaxwellsDemon]

Yeah, you'll definitely need the ideas learned in classical mechanics in later courses. :) As for the research question...lots of exciting stuff still being done in classical physics. Computers have allowed us to explore some really interesting phenomena that were off limits a century ago...non linear and chaotic systems are the first thing that spring to my mind.